Process of inlaying metal in masses such as celluloid, ebonite, and the like.



JACOB KAUFMANN, OF WILMERSDORF, NEAR BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF INLAYING METAL IN MASSES SUCH AS CELLULOID, EBONITE, AND THEPatented Apr. 23, 1912.

LIKE.

1,()24l:,2@3. Specification of Letters Patent.

No Drawing.

Application filed May 2, 1911. Serial No. 624,657.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JAooB KAUFMANN, merchant, a subject of the GermanEmperor, residing at 172 Kaiserallee, Vilmersdorf, near Berlin, Germany,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes ofInlaying Metal in Masses Such as Celluloid, Ebonite, and the Like, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The subject-matter of my invention is a process of inlaying metal inmasses such as celluloid, ebonite and the like.

Metal inlays are inserted, as is known, in masses such as celluloid,ebonite, wood, pasteboard or the like, by the pieces of metal inquestion being placed on the softened mass and pressed under a pressuntil they are located in one plane with the mass. Heretofore, thesemetal inlays were sawn, stamped or, more rarely corroded out of a sheetof metal, but for the sake of cheapness only simple, generallyconnected, ornamental shapes came into consideration, freer artisticforms being almost entirely avoided. The present process, on thecontrary, enables any desired ornamentation, whether rich or simple,connected or comprising any desired number of separate individual parts,to be made in a very simple and cheap man ner. Instead of working up thesheet metal by itself and placing the ornamental pieces obtainedtherefrom on the mass or foundation only at the moment of theiremployment, I firmly cement or mount the uncut sheets of metal on thefoundation or mass, and'only subsequently separate them by corrosion orgraving. It is obvious that where the sheet is attached with its entireface to the mass, each individual part which remains after the corrosiveaction is completed must remain adhering to the mass and it is notnecessary, as heretofore, in the case of rich, disconnected designs toassemble the individual constituent parts of the ornamentation withconsiderable trouble in the proper arrangement on the mass.

My process may be carried into practice as follows z-The drawing of theornamentation in question is painted on a sheet of metal with the aid ofan acid-proof paint or the like, preferably japan-black, or, in theevent of the same pattern being frequently repeated, by means of aprinting process. After the paint has dried, the entire underside of thesheet of metal is attached to its foundation by means of a suitableadhesive, placed together with the foundation into an acid bath andsubjected to a corrosive process. As the plastic masses which come intoquestion are not attacked by the liquid corrosive, the corrosion may becontinued until all the unprotected parts of the metal sheet have beendissolved down to their foundation and only the ornament remains whichcan then at once be pressed into the soft mass. A process is knownaccording to which patterns in metal are made on the surface ofcelluloid sheets by imprinting metallic powders or thin foil thereon bymeans of dies in the manner of bookbinders impressions. This knownprocess, however, has nothing in common with my process inasmuch as itis there a matter of exceedingly transitory ornamentations which adhereonly to the surface of the sheetsof celluloid and can be rubbed off withease without impairing the foundation, whereas in my process solid metalinlays are used which not only eX- ceedingly resist mechanical action,but can be ground and polished and also can only be destroyed with thefoundation itself.

I claim A process of inlaying metal in plastic masses such as celluloid,ebonite, wood, pasteboard and the like, which consists in providing thetop side of a solid sheet of metal with a drawing in acid-proof paint,in mounting the sheet of metal with its bottom side on the plastic mass,in subsequently placing the sheet of metal together with the mass in acorrosive bath and leaving the same therein until all the surface of thesheet unprotected by the paint has been dissolved, in removing the masswith the adhering metal from the bath, and in then pressing the metalleft adhering to the mass into the latter.

In testimony whereof I am my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB KAUFMANN. lVitnesses:

HENRY HASPER, WOLDEMAR HAUPT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by

addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

